As I said in my review of [b:The Runes of the Earth|337100|The Runes of the Earth (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, #1)|Stephen R. Donaldson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327916636s/337100.jpg|3239005], the first book in this Last Chronicles series could have been subtitled Arrogance. This second book in the series could be subtitled Apprehension because there's so much damn waffling. Linden wants to ask Covenant questions, hell she actually forms them in her mind, then asks something completely different. Why?

I will say Donaldson's plotting has become much better with age, however I am not enjoying the pages and pages, chapters and chapters of hand-wringing and silent desperation and wondering without asking.

And, of course, this is Stephen R. Donaldson, so we have to address his word choice. When I was a teenager and reading the first chronicles of everyone's favourite leper-hero, Donaldson's word choice enchanted and challenged me. And even today, I understand that the language is being used to suit the majesty of the Land and its various settings, but really...every so often, couldn't SRD toss in a "face" or "look" or "visage" instead of "mein"? Or "power" or "potency" instead of "puissance"? How about"perception" instead of "percipience" every damn time? How about telling us someone's skin crawled instead of tossing out "fomication" every time and making me think I'm reading "fornication"?

Why be clear and reasonably concise when overwrought is so clearly an option? This last series could easily have been three books instead of the four. Ah well, eight books into a ten-book series, I can't stop now.

That being said, I still stand by the series overall. The imagination, the majesty and the characters in these chronicles are still, to my mind, so much better than a lot of the fantasy dreck out there.

If you're reading this review while considering whether or not to dive into the Covenant series (and really, overall, all sarcasm aside, you really should. I don't think there's been a better fantasy series since Lord of the Rings), you really should check out the rather challenging lexicon of SRD. You can do so at the excellent Stephen R. Donaldson Ate My Dictionary site.

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I thoroughly loved this book. The back story, the flashbacks, the history of characters encountered in the land, the plot twists. All of this was very interesting and entertaining to me. I "felt" the conditions as I was reading and was on edge when there was conflict, particularly the mid-point of the story. I am looking forward to seeing how the story develops in "Against All Things Ending". ( )

Picking up where the cliffhanger ending of The Runes of the Earth left off, Thomas Covenant leads Linden Avery on a quest to use the power of the Blood of the Earth. Linden finds quickly that she doesn't trust her old friend as much as she should, and refuses to surrender the power of Covenant's white gold ring to the rightful wielder.

If this makes no sense, it means you're seven books behind the story. There's no sense in pretending, "What has gone before" prologues aside, that these books are in any way standalone stories. Fatal Revenant in particular is opaque if the reader is not familiar with previous works, but very regarding if one has a good memory (or is quick to peek in the glossary).

Questions about the Ranhyn, the forestals, and Linden's son Jeremiah are all answered with more questions. The Land's history is explored like never before, and scenes of Linden healing through Earthpower while Berek Halfhand watches on in awe are among the most powerful that Donaldson has ever written.

Fatal Revenant flags in introspection and self-doubt in the middle of the book, but quickly picks up again. With the new expressions of lore that are turned over, this addition to the Thomas Covenant saga smacks of fan service a little, but I didn't mind. What I do mind is waiting until 2010 for the next volume. ( )

It pains me to give this book a generous 3 stars because I love Mr. Donaldson's writing (Mordant's Need and the first six Thomas Covenant books are some of my favorite fantasy books and I enjoyed the Great God's War series). Perhaps it was because I liked Thomas Covenant's POV more; Linden always seemed whiny and self-absorbed, but reading this book was painful.
I still love his writing style although it's become somewhat repetitive. His word usage is superlative. I know others don't like it, but I enjoy looking up unfamiliar words and noting how he uses other archaic wording.
I don't like books though that just seem like journeys for the sake of filling out a book and that's what this one is. It took me forever to read it, not just because it's a lot of pages but because they never seemed to progress very far. I am heartened by the ending which will encourage me to keep reading. ( )

I have to be as doggedly persistent in finishing the series this time as Donaldson surely was in over-writing it. Tortuously tedious, agonizingly slow, maddening paralysis of yet another main character - there is little to root for in Linden Avery, and he does her no favors, and sadly immemorable... It turns out I did read this when it came out but only remembered one partial revelation and was only finally able to recognize the actual reveal when it happened. I recall little from the first reading and there is good reason for that.

Donaldson is the master of forbearing the utilization of a diminutive utterance when an obscure polysyllabic synonym will suffice. Oh, his obscurities are not archaic, but they are seldom used, and while a "trademark" the reader has no choice in accepting, they have long served to embellish his stories since his first trilogy. And his skill at description is distorted into parody. I've already said tedious, but it is an apt description that bears repeating. This book is hundreds of pages longer than it should have been. Peter Jackson stretched a short novel into three movies (yes, his fan fiction silliness added a lot of extraneous to an already good story), Donaldson stretched a long book into a ponderous tome.

Stoic companions. Paralyzed central character. Maddening internalizations. Even more maddeningly rushed denouement. Add in the introduction of a new set of players of varying and considerable powers, who profess an interest in the outcome of the play yet had no appearance in the previous two series when the outcome played quite dire, is troublesome (though uncharacteristically sparely explained away.) They seem to be contrivances to draw out an already overly long arc. Perhaps that is why the last trilogy has four books. [Note: I rarely summarize fiction plots, mainly because I think it unfair to the author (there are plenty of people who do for those on the hunt, and there is almost always a teaser blurb.) And I think it unfair to the reader who, like me, dislikes spoilers.]

I know I have only read 16 pages of the next book (that I recall, along with 47 words into it, Donaldson drops one of those trademarks), and I also know I remember not reading more. I need a break to concentrate on some educational reading, and two advance review copies, before I attempt the next. But this time, I will finish the series. ( )